Coopers Brewery

The Coopers Brewery tour is helping put the Rad in Radelaide.
The tour was rather scientific, going beyond the standard «beer is made from water, malt, yeast, and hops.» I suspect this was partially tailored to our group because our small tour was comprised of beer nerds & beer lovers.
But either way, this is a tour through the actually factory, not added tourist set-​ups, like Guinness or Heineken tours. Which also means you get to wear bright orange vests — bonus!
Our guide was great and extremely knowledgable, with an interest in home-​brewing.
The money from the tour is donated to charity, and the tour includes tastings of the Coopers range and a souvenir glass to take home at the end.
So for both locals and visitors — pat yourself on the back for supporting charity while drinking some fermented Australian history.
Tips:
You must wear closed-​toed shoes on the factory tour.
Designate a sober driver or take public transport so you can enjoy all the beer tastings!

Coopers Brewery tour, not just for tourists…
Highly recommend the tour for anyone who enjoys the odd brew or two. The only issue is finding the time if you’re not on vay-​k, as there’s only one tour a day, Tuesday to Friday at 1pm. No chance of «taking a long lunch…»
Buzz the intercom at the main gates of the factory for access and you half expect to be asked for your golden ticket. It really is a «wonderland» of ingenious inventions, a 3 hole golf course, concert venue…
I won’t give too much away, but just that the tour is highly technical. As you walk around the factory some of the processes give off lots of heat. Some areas are noisy. It’s a little overwhelming. People get shy.
But then you hit the «tastings» part of the tour and everyone relaxes and livens up. So I guess sort of like going to any bar…
Unless you’ve played some sort of true blue SA drinking game, this is a one off opportunity to sample and compare the entire Coopers range. What you discover may surprise!
Frank, your guide, makes the tour… ask about the Sparkling canary.
The deets:
-$ 22 for the tour ($ 20 of that goes to charity).
–Book ahead
–Wear closed toe shoes… and that’s it!

I went to Coopers Brewery to see Elton John. We got there when about two thirds of the people had already arrived, so had to look for quite a while to find a parking space. The venue itself does not have parking but you can park at Tafe SA just opposite or you’ll just have to drive around in one of the side streets (like we did) and walk for a while.
Organisation was very good as it took us less than a few minutes to get past people who checked our tickets and bags. Once inside the open-​air venue, we didn’t have any difficulties finding a good spot because the area is a little bit hilly and you can at least get a good view of the screen from no matter where you stand. I really liked the arrangement of the stage and the different sitting/​standing areas.
There were plenty of food and drink stalls, however, before the gig you had to wait for at least 20 minutes to get either of the two. It was a bit of a pain, especially with the drink stalls and a lot of people serving beer and wine just seemed to be in no rush at all. During the gig itself it was fine, but just 1 ½ h after it started all they had left was beer in cans. Mind you, we were at a brewery!
Overall, I had a great experience at Coopers Brewery. It wasn’t overcrowded, the concert started on time and pretty much everything was catered for. I’d definitely go back for another concert.